I know, the title of this article is a little offensive. I debated whether or not to write on this subject at all. The Supreme Court’s decision over the rights of a church to protest during the funeral of a soldier who was killed in Iraq has caused a tsunami of emotion.
On Wednesday of this week the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment of the Constitution does protect the speech of church members who do not have a brain.
The court voted 8-1 in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan. The decision upheld an appeals court ruling that threw out a $5 million judgment to the father of a dead Marine who sued church members after they picketed his son’s funeral.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion for the court. Justice Samuel Alito dissented.
“What Westboro said, in the whole context of how and where it chose to say it, is entitled to ‘special protection’ under the First Amendment,”Justice Roberts wrote, “and that protection cannot be overcome by a jury finding that the picketing was outrageous.”
Matthew Snyder died in Iraq in 2006 and his body was returned to the United States for burial. Members of the Westboro Baptist Church, who have picketed military funerals for several years, decided to protest outside the Westminster, Md., church where Snyder’s funeral was to be held.
For those who want to express what the Bible says about homosexuality, abortion, what constitutes a marriage, and the dangers of pornography, this ruling gives us great reason to celebrate.
The problem is that the ruling also gives the right of free speech to those who claim to follow Jesus but do not follow what Jesus would say or do. I cannot recall anywhere in the Gospels where Jesus showed up to protest at the funeral of anyone. One thing that Jesus was always very sensitive about was when someone had lost a loved one, whether they be a pagan or a Christian.
John 11:32-34 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And He said, “Where have you laid him?” ¶ They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.
John 11:35-36 Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”
Jesus understands the pain that we feel as human beings when someone that we love or care about dies. It was because of the sting of death and the pain that it causes that Jesus came to the earth in the first place. To remove the curse of death and give all of us eternal life, was one of the chief reasons Jesus gave up His life for us.
It may be constitutionally legal to say mean and cruel things on signs and in protest at the funeral of a dead soldier, but it is extremely poor judgement and of very bad taste to use freedom in that way.
The expression of freedom is just as much about restraint as it is about the free exercise of rights. To be so free that you chose not to say anything hurtful when someone is suffering is at the very essence of what Jesus tried to teach all of us who follow Him.
Very few people are saved or led to Jesus Christ by the outpouring of wrath. It is the goodness, kindness, grace and mercy of God that leads people to repentance.
Romans 2:4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
I would pray that all of us who claim that Jesus is our Lord and Savior would filter whatever it is we are about to say or do through this wide old slogan: “What would Jesus do?”
If I don’t see or hear Jesus saying or doing something in the Bible that I am considering, it doesn’t matter if the Supreme Court will uphold my right to do so. It does matter what the Supreme Being of the Universe thinks and what He would have me say or do.
To claim that Jesus is the Lord of our life is to be totally submitted to Him in every word and action of our life. If we do not want to immitate Jesus’ behavior then we should not call ourselves “A Christian”.
When they first started calling the followers of Jesus “Christians” at Antioch, they did so because the people who deserved this title, received that title because they were acting like Jesus.
I am embarrassed to say that today there are many who take the name of “Christian” who are very stupid and unthinking in what they say and do. They misrepresent the Lord who they claim to follow, who gave everything that He had in total submission, without a single cruel comment or unkind deed to anyone.
Jesus had the power to come to this planet and vaporize everyone of us in an instant. He chose instead, to use His great power to lay down His own life and die. Perhaps some should rethink their next protest and instead go to their private room and fall on their knees and pray as Jesus often did when He was faced with opposition and the sin of men.
Luke 6:12 Now it came to pass in those days that Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
Matthew 6:5 “…you shall not be like the hypocrites…that they may be seen by men. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place…”
Rob Robinson
